Aston Martin

[theoriganalRiD3R1967]

I got this body 2 days ago, after wanting it for over a year, I'm not doing a whach of work on it, i filled in the spoiler holes and have yet to scratch in the body line in one of them, i was thinking ove doing some work on the lip, but i dont have enough confidence in my own work yet lol.











I used 320 grit to smooth out the bondo, and i think i'll use 1500 or sumthing to smooth it out more before paint though. not thinking of useing primer based on previous experiences unless your feed back can change my mind.

[Bananabrain]

Nice body choice. I always use flat black as my primer coat, usually one medium coat or two light coats. Depending on the color I am painting the body or if I need to help cover up something.

[theoriganalRiD3R1967]

I've used flat black before but it made my final color alot darker than i waanted so im a kinda afraid to use it

[Dr. Kustom]

Originally Posted by theoriganalRiD3R1967

I've used flat black before but it made my final color alot darker than i waanted so im a kinda afraid to use it

You should try the Tamiya primer. They have white and grey. If your final color going to be a light color, then use the white primer, if your final color is going to be a dark color, then use the grey primer.

[ravevolution]

Nice choice in body! Sorry it took so long to get one.

Kustom is right
If your choice of color is going to be something light, and to make it really pop, go with a white primer. If you want something bright but not too popping or any darker colors, grey would be choice.

I personally prefer Testors grey primer when painting. Not used Tamiya primer but their paints are nice

As for confidence on your skill and doing anything major like the lip thing you want todo. I say do it, practice makes perfect. Also plan it out and reasearch/ask questions, that way you harbor more confidence in performing the work. Still feel uncomfortable, then try and practicing on a body you don't mind trashing and make go about it patiently and step by step. In the end there is nothing wrong with saying "I'm just gonna hold off and do it after I feel ready". Worse comes to worse, just buy another body. . . just hopefully it won't take long to get it.

[theoriganalRiD3R1967]

Thanks for the feedback guys. The paint I bought is testors, so I was thinking of a testors primer, and I saw the white tamiya stuff I was going to get it actually but the guy there really suggest the testors stuff and the tamiya silver was not wat exactly wat I wanted either, as far as my confidence goes, lol, its just with this body b/c its special, I have a side project I'll go crazy on So u guys really suggest primer huh? Ok, the only other thing was I'm afraid primer might kinda build up on the grill and other recreated mesh areas, or shud I mask those from primer?

[ravevolution]

As far as primer. . . some people would say just paint it being it's a stock body. But the problem that could happen is the paint won't stick on well to the body. So I say primer it.

I won't go too much into detail about prepping and painting your body, since there are some good tuts. and build/paint threads here in the forum about it

I would give the body a quick wash in a light detergent bath (get rid of oils and stuff that get on them when taken out of the molds) and let it air dry.

Don't need to mask things i feel. I can't tell from the pictures and don't have experience working with Mini-Z bodies so I can only assume the body doesn't come apart as in front and back bumpers/grill like a xmod does. If it does it helps to take it apart and spray it that way. Key part here when primer so things don't thicken/build up is even long strokes, best to practice on scrap.

But that's just a small bit of advice I can offer. Like I said check out some of the tutorial/build threads. Since Doc Kustom posted his threads are good to check out, especially his build threads

[Dr. Kustom]

Originally Posted by ravevolution

As far as primer. . . some people would say just paint it being it's a stock body. But the problem that could happen is the paint won't stick on well to the body. So I say primer it.

I won't go too much into detail about prepping and painting your body, since there are some good tuts. and build/paint threads here in the forum about it

I would give the body a quick wash in a light detergent bath (get rid of oils and stuff that get on them when taken out of the molds) and let it air dry.

Don't need to mask things i feel. I can't tell from the pictures and don't have experience working with Mini-Z bodies so I can only assume the body doesn't come apart as in front and back bumpers/grill like a xmod does. If it does it helps to take it apart and spray it that way. Key part here when primer so things don't thicken/build up is even long strokes, best to practice on scrap.

But that's just a small bit of advice I can offer. Like I said check out some of the tutorial/build threads. Since Doc Kustom posted his threads are good to check out, especially his build threads

Ravevolution got some good points there. Before you primer/paint your body, you gotta wash it with soap and water. Use a tooth brush to help cleaning up the small areas like the grills, vents, diffuser, etc. Then you can dry it. I know some people suggest air dry it, but what I usually do is wipe it down with a clean cloths. That way is faster than air dry (Because I hate waiting ) also, sometimes when you let it air dry, there might be water marks left on the body when its dried. Once you got everything cleaned and dried, then you're good for painting.

As for the grill, there's no need to mask it off, because when you use primer, you only need to use a thin layer of primer, its to help you to see/fix up the rough surface you have on the body, primer coat doesn't have to be thick, so don't worry about loosing details on the grill or masking it off. Another thing about masking off the grill then primer the body is that, once you peel off the masking tape after you primed the body, you might see the mask line.

Hope those info above helps.

[theoriganalRiD3R1967]

Thanks alot guys, I really apprciate all ur suggestions, you have convinced me to prime it first lol and I'll look through some threads again, thanks. I might put up so more pics later today of the bit of body work that the front requires.

[theoriganalRiD3R1967]

UPDATE I've continued working on this, just the front, i had to attach a few parts, than fill the gaps sand, and redo some body linesthen do it over again, it's pretty close to being done and after testing with my paints I've found that flatblack as a primer won't change the apperance of my paint so I'll be using that and hopefully brfoe the weekends out it will be ready for its first color coat.











It still looks kinda rough, will the black coat fix that?

[theoriganalRiD3R1967]

Another update today, I primed the car with flat black and I only see one spot that needs some body work, but the paint I used feels really dusty so I will be sanding over the entire car with 2000gand put one more really light coat, then sand it once again.

[theoriganalRiD3R1967]

Got an Update

Its been a while since I posted any progress but much has been made none the less. After numerous cycles of adding filler sanding priming sandin priming sanding... I got to the point where I was satisfied with the shape, and moved on to color and details. I will redo the hood almosty entirely and still have a couple of details on each side. Then the clearcoat and sand that afterwards, the windows are just for show right now, enjoy!

[theoriganalRiD3R1967]

Well i did up some of the details, painted the rims, mirrors exhuast pipes and windshield wiper black repainted the hood and roof. Now the remaing things to do include a couple of touch up silver spots front bumper tailights and scratches around a vent on the right side, and a few black details (vents 3 on each side, then a good scrubdown and the clearcoat, followed by gluine in the gass cap lights etc.

[FloydfanYodaman]

looks great...very sparkly LOL...i really like the color scheme and nice work with the little details so far...thanks for the update

[Osiris19]

Gosh that is gorgeous. I want an Aston Martin.

[theoriganalRiD3R1967]

Thanks guys, the sparkles wont be as distinct after the clearcoat is sanded, I tested the primer paint then clearcoat ensemble on a seperate plastice scrap and it appears metallic afterwards, thanks I've been visualizing the layout and scheme for the last 14-15 months!
BTW this whitebody didn't come with any decals and I dont want this car to be without its hood emblem, any suggestions on how i cud make/ get one?